The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and system for illuminating footwear, and more particularly, to an electronic control circuit for powering light-emitting elements disposed within shoes. Articles of footwear have been known to incorporate light-sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and electroluminescent materials to either adorn the shoe with an intermittent flash of light or a static, continuous glow. However, these applications have been limited in color change, transition effect, crossfade functionality, durability, safety, convenience, and sophistication.
It is also known in the art to incorporate a power source into an article of footwear to activate the light-emitting elements. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,590 (Marston). On the lower end of power consumption, it is known to incorporate either lithium coin-cell batteries or a piezoelectric material to deliver a short burst of charge to briefly flash an LED when, for example, the wearer's foot strikes the ground. On the higher end of power consumption, it is known to incorporate a replaceable non-rechargeable battery such as a standard 9-volt to power a continuous source of illumination. A shortcoming of the former approach is that the light element is not activated when the wearer is stationary, thus affording no safety protection or other benefits of visibility. Shortcomings of the latter approach are the added bulk of a larger and heavier battery, and the need for frequent replacement.
Further, the aforementioned disadvantages concerning the power source have prevented the incorporation of more sophisticated processing technologies and the corresponding gains in functionality, such as user-selected color changes or transition effects, due to the increased power requirements of these advantageous features.
Even further, the disadvantages concerning the power source in the higher end of power consumption have prevented the design of a fully-encapsulated electronic and battery module that is substantially impervious to the elements, due to the need for either battery replacement or the insertion of a power jack with conductive terminals. These difficulties have also hindered the design of an electronic and battery module that is non-obtrusive, lightweight, safe, and biomechanically sound.
Thus it is desirable to provide a device that can drive an illumination that is highly visible from all surrounding angles without the need to frequently replace, or plug into an outlet, an obtrusive, heavy, or otherwise inconvenient battery pack. Further, it is desirable to provide a user interface driven by a processor that enables the wearer to customize the user experience by, for example, being able to choose from a plurality of colors, transition effects, crossfades, and the like. Even further, it is desirable to incorporate the totality of the electronic and power components within a module that is hermetically-sealed and biomechanically-sound, thus making it durable, water-resistant, impact-resistant, safe, and non-obtrusive.